Dear Editor,
I wish to refer to your article in Friday’s edition of Stabroek Business titled, ‘Georgetown Chamber not financially able to advocate for small businesses, secretary says.’ The disingenuous headline certainly did not capture the true spirit of the statement that was sent to your business editor. Furthermore, the headline implies that the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry is not involved in efforts to assist the advancement of the small business community. This is disappointing since in our statement we mentioned that our primary advocacy mechanism for improving the small business community is done in collaboration with the Private Sector Commission through its representation on the National Competitiveness Council, in an effort to avoid duplication of effort. Furthermore, the statement communicated that the Chamber represents a wide cross-section of business sectors and interests and it is both technically and financially impractical for us to focus on any one sector, not just the small business sector, to the exclusion of others. This response was appropriate in respect of the questions posed by your business editor who was enquiring about our activities in terms of “supporting small business plans to build capacity, increase access to financial resources and enhance local and overseas marketing capacity… [and] Plans for training, if any, for small business entrepreneurs.”
Here is the excerpt of the statement that refers to the small business community: “Concerning your interest into the Chamber’s role in relation to the small business community, it is worth noting that the Chamber works in the interest of all members of the private sector. Furthermore, many of our own members belong to the small business sector. However, our members’ interests are paramount in how decisions regarding initiatives are made. This is so because the majority of the Chamber’s funds are raised through our membership. We do not receive external financial support from Government and/or International Donors. This constrains our capacity, both technically and financially, to specifically focus and advocate on issues specifically relevant to the support and development of any one sector. This does not imply however that we do not engage with stakeholders in the small business community. Though not directly, our central advocacy on the development of the sector with the government is channelled through the PSC and its representation on the National Competitiveness Council to avoid duplication of effort. Moreover, in the past, we have offered the Guyana Small Business Association invitations to join our membership in order to support and augment their advocacy efforts.”
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
Secretary
GCCI
